The New York Yankees rallied to beat the Baltimore Orioles in sensational fashion on Wednesday, getting two home runs from Raul Ibanez in a 3-2 win that put them on the brink of reaching the American League (AL) Championship Series.

The 40-year-old Ibanez, pinch-hitting for slumping slugger Alex Rodriguez, delivered a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and then led off the 12th with another blast deep into the right-field seats to win it.

The Yankee Stadium crowded of over 50,000 and the New York dugout erupted when Ibanez smashed the first pitch from left-handed reliever Brian Matusz in the 12th and the veteran was mobbed by his teammates after his trip around the bases.

The Yankees' victory snapped a streak of 16 extra-innings wins registered by the Orioles, and broke their perfect 74-0 mark this season when holding a lead after seven innings.

"Raul had some kind of day for us today, and you have to make some decisions sometimes that are tough decisions," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said about sending in the pinch-hitter for Rodriguez. "But I just had a gut feeling."

Ibanez said he was surprised at being asked to pinch-hit for one of top players.

"Alex is one of the best hitters of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the game," said Ibanez.

"I just thought something was going on. I didn't know what was happening, and then I just tried to put it behind me and get a good pitch to hit."

The thrilling victory gave New York a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five AL Division Series.

The decision to send Ibanez up to hit for Rodriguez, who stands fifth on the all-time home run list with 647 round-trippers and is the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball, was a stunning move.

With the Orioles leading 2-1 and right-handed closer Jim Johnson on the mound, Joe Girardi decided the left-handed hitting Ibanez was the better option.

The crowd, who booed Rodriguez following strikeouts in previous two at-bats, cheered Ibanez as he stepped to the plate and the 40-year-old delivered by cracking a line drive into the seats to tie the score at 2-2.

Rodriguez slapped high-fives with injured closer Mariano Rivera as Ibanez circled the bases and was one of the first to greet him in the dugout.

"I'm one of the leaders of the team," he said. "Maybe 10 years ago I wouldn't have reacted the same. I'm in a place right now where it's all about team wins."

While the loss could prove critical in the best-of-five series, Orioles manager Buck Showalter praised his young team for their effort.

"I'm really proud of the way they competed," said Showalter.

"Miguel was outstanding tonight, as was Kuroda, and I thought Jimmy (Johnson) pitched really well. One pitch, that's the world we live in."

Reuters - Global Times